Over the past decade, plasma waste treatment has become a more prominent technology due to increasing problems with waste disposal and realizing opportunities to generate valuable co-products. Plasma waste treatment extensively uses atmospheric pressure (RF) inductive coupled plasma (ICP) torches. In situ Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) is used to evaluate the developed RF ICP torch for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) treatment and ascertain the plasma parameters to understand the physical mechanism involved. The argon plasma jet's electron temperature and plasma density outside the torch chamber are calculated using the Boltzmann plot and Stark broadening at different gas flow rates, and RF power. The expected electron temperature and plasma density behaviour were observed at a low gas flow rate. The electron temperature decreases with the RF power from 8089 K to 6097 K as demand for increasing the plasma density. An energy loss mechanism was revealed while raising the gas flow rate, as the electron temperature increases with RF power from 5750 K to 6221 K, and the plasma density decreases. This behaviour is due to the anomalous skin effect. Detecting and avoiding this phenomenon is essential as it negatively affects torch energy efficiency and waste treatment.
In the original publication of the article, fourth author's name was misspelt. The correct name is given in this correction.The original article has been corrected.
Solid spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants has 3.4% fission products (80-160amu), contributing to over 99.8% radioactivity. On the other hand, liquid high-level radioactive waste (HLRW) from spent fuel reprocessing has 98.9% bulk elements (0-60amu) with 0.1% radioactivity. A separation mechanism on the mass categories as groups presents unique opportunities in managing HLRW for the long term with a considerable cost reduction. This paper proposes a thermal plasma-based separation system incorporating atmospheric pressure plasma torches for HLRW mass separation into low-resolution mass groups. Several engineering issues, such as waste preparation, waste injection into the plasma and waste collecting after mass separation, need to be addressed. Using COMSOL Multiphysics simulation, the generic system can be studied using noble gas mass separation and further analyze the mass filter capabilities. This paper provides the history of plasma-based mass separation. Functional modelling of a thermal plasma mass separation system is proposed under atmospheric pressure. Finally, aspects of mass separation simulation using noble gas Argon and Helium inside the plasma mass separation system were studied in COMSOL Multiphysics.
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